


Ghost Town

by leveragus



Category: Major Crimes (TV)
Genre: Big Bang Challenge, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-18 00:37:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4685567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leveragus/pseuds/leveragus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Andy and Sharon find themselves as they are involved in a helicopter accident.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set between the end of season 3 and the beginning of season 4 so Shandy is not CANON yet.

**GHOST TOWN**

_When it all falls, when it all falls down_  
I'll be your fire when the lights go out  
When there's no one, no one else around  
We'll be two souls in a ghost town  
  
When the world gets cold  
I'll be your cover  
Let's just hold  
Onto each other  
When it all falls, when it all falls down  
We'll be two souls in a ghost town

_Ghost Town- Madonna_

 

Captain Sharon Raydor knew she had work to do. The files on her desk were there as a reminder her, but her mind was elsewhere. It had been since her lieutenant and friend Andy Flynn left for his lunch break.

It had been a quiet morning even though they had a case. They had been stuck for days and with no new evidence and no new information, it was getting more difficult to find a breakthrough, something that could put them on the right track again. The case was slowly getting colder and colder by the minute and they didn’t want that. Robert Carlton, their victim, couldn’t just be another forgotten number case in a box. His family deserved more than that. 

The team was brainstorming in front of the whiteboard when I voice interrupted them.

“I see nothing ever changes around here…” they all turned their heads around and saw a woman standing by the entrance with a smile on her face. “Well except the new offices look tidier.”

“Carol!” Andy Flynn jumped from his seat and rushed towards the woman enfolding her in a big warm hug.

“It’s good to see you too, Andy.” The blonde woman put her arms around the tall man and returned the hug.

The rest of the team exchanged looks with their eyebrow raised wondering if they knew who the woman was or what her relationship with Andy was. The only one who seemed to know her was Provenza and he nodded his head at her with a smile and a small wave.

“Am I late?” Andy asked as he separated from her and checking his watch. He knew that when they all exchanged ideas and discussed the case, usually time passed without them realizing it.

“No, no.” She reassured him put a hand on his arm. “I just wanted to see the new place and where you worked. It’s certainly different from that small office you and Bobby used to share with the smoke stained walls and the horrible smell of rotten food.”

Andy chuckled. “Yes, it’s definitely an improvement.”

Sharon observed them from where she was leaning against the empty desk next to Andy’s. The woman had long strawberry blonde hair and a warm friendly smile. She was maybe a few years younger than her, but her face didn’t have the sign of the passing of time. They looked comfortable around each other and Andy introduced her as Caroline Keaton to the room. Everyone said hi to her and when it was her turn, Sharon put on her best smile on her face and shook her hand.

“Is it okay if I leave for my lunch break?” Andy then asked her implicating that she was going to spend his lunch break out with Caroline.

 Sharon kept smiling even though she felt a pang of jealousy creep inside her. “Sure. There’s nothing we can do here for now. Enjoy your lunch.”

As soon as they had left, she walked inside her office and closed the door behind her ignoring the questioning looks of her team. She had been hiding in there for nearly over an hour now. 

Her mind was filled with questions. Who was that woman? But more importantly: who was she for Andy?

Since things quiet down after Stroh’s escape, they had been going out on their no-dates at least a couple times of a week and never in one of their outings did her mention going out with someone else. Not that he should have. She had no claim on him. They were friends. Very good friends, that’s it. Those were the words they told his daughter Nicole when she thought (or more like Andy let her believe) that their relationship was more intimate. And yes, things were beginning to change. And extra smile here, a longing touch there, hands caressing each other, but that was it. And then hell broke loose. Stroh escaped and Sharon kept every minute of every day searching for him and protecting her adopted son, Rusty. Maybe she had been too distracted that she didn’t see that she had lost him. She had lost him even before she really had him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. She shook her head and hid her emotions again.

“Yes?” She called out.

The door opened and she saw it was her boss, Assistant Chief Russell Taylor. “Captain, if you could come to the murder room, please.” He ordered without any preamble.

Confused, Sharon got up and followed him outside.

The rest of the team interrupted what they were doing and had their attention on them. Raydor could see discarded pizza boxes and carton glasses around the room. Buzz must have gone to get some food. It was strange that they didn’t invite. She wondered if they had known that she had wanted to be alone and why.         

“There’s been a murder similar to ours near Los Angeles National forest.” Taylor announced. “The local sheriff told us we can go and check it out, see if it can be the same MO.”

Raydor had opened her mouth ready to send Julio, Tao and Buzz to the scene when Taylor interrupted her. “I want you to go, Captain.”

Sharon raised her eyebrows surprised. She was team leader; she rarely went to the crime scenes or in the field, only when it was necessary. That’s why she had a team.

Sensing her hesitation, Chief Taylor explained. “It is a small local town. They media are already there. If they found out about the similarities and they connect the dots, they will scream serial killer before we even had the chance to verify it. Chief Pope wants every to be dealt with before there’s going to be unnecessary chaos. You are the best diplomatic member of Major Crimes, Pope wants you there.”

She nodded. She couldn’t really disobey orders. Maybe going away and being separated from Flynn would help her with the pain he was feeling right then. She looked at lieutenant Tao. “I’ll…”

In that moment they heard the ding of the lift and Andy Flynn came back from his lunch break. , fortunately, without his companion.

“You can take Flynn. There’s a helicopter waiting for you to take you there.”

“What’s going on here?” Flynn only heard his name and the word helicopter.

“You and the captain are going to for helicopter trip.” Provenza sniggered updating his friends. He was glad that it wasn’t him. He hated flying on those things. He had old cars that looked more secure than those flying mechanic birds.

“A helicopter? Why can’t we drive?” Flynn frowned. 

“Flynn? I could go with someone else… Tao or…” Sharon Raydor ignored them. She wanted to get away from him not spending more alone time with Andy.

Flynn snapped his head towards Sharon still frowning. Why didn’t she want him to go with there?

“I said Flynn.” Taylor looked at the captain carefully. “Is there a problem here?” He narrowed his eyes.

“No, of course not, Sir.” She swallowed hard. She didn’t want people to get suspicious. “I’ll get my bag ready and Lieutenant Flynn and I will set off shortly.” She finally looked at him and she could see that he knew something was wrong. Great, now she was going to have to spend the short flight there dodging his questions. She sighed and walked towards her office to get her night bag that was already there for emergency which had some extra clothes and toiletries. She also wanted to call Rusty to let him know that she was going away. Maybe if she was lucky it was going to be nothing and they would be back before night.

When she walked back out again after talking to her son, she noticed that lieutenant Flynn was missing again.

“He went to get his bag from his car.” Provenza explained when she saw her questioning eyes. “He said he was going to meet you directly at the helicopter pad.”

“We might have to stay there the night. It is unlikely that we’ll get all our answers before the end of the day. If it is the same MO and the same killer we will see how to organize the data and operations. Maybe Skye could join us and you, Lieutenant, could keep everything here under control.”

“First let’s see if it’s our killer. You and Flynn might be going over there for nothing. You know how Pope is.” Provenza grumbled.

“Yeah, maybe…” She paused. “If you could…”

“Watch over Rusty while you are gone?” he finished for her.

“Yeah.”

“I thought Cooper’s team was doing that?”

Sharon glared at him. Rusty didn’t know that she had put agents to watch his back while Stroh was on the run. He didn’t want a security detail and she had gone behind his back. Yes, she felt guilty about that, but it was better than to have to bury her son because she hadn’t taken all possible precautions.

“I will ask him to spend the night on my couch. I will imply that he doesn’t really have a choice.”

“Thank you Lieutenant.” She smiled. He always sounded so grumpy, but she knew he cared.

She found Andy in front of the door leading to the roof where the helicopter pad was. They could already hear the strong rumor of the engine running and the recognizable sound of the propellers.

“Are you ready to go?” He smiled at her with his boyish grin that melted her heart. But this time she gave her only pain.

She opened the door without answering and greeted the pilot who was waiting for them.

“Officer Pride, Madame.” He shook her hand. “I’ll be your pilot today.”

“Thank you officer.” And the young man helped her get in the helicopter. He then turned towards Lieutenant Flynn and nodded at him as Andy lifted himself up and took a seat next to Sharon.

Andy put his protective gear on and then helped Sharon with her seat belt.

“Thanks.” She muttered just for courtesy and he really didn’t know what was wrong.

The pilot took his seat and then the helicopter took off. It was going to be a short flight, so he didn’t need a co-pilot.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Andy suddenly asked after more than fifteen minutes of silence.

“We’re going to a crime scene that might be connected to our case.”

“I don’t mean with this. You know what I mean. What’s going on with you?” He replied annoyed.

“I don’t know what you mean. Nothing is wrong with me.”

“What did I do?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why are you pissed at me?” He shouted so she could hear her over the loud noise.

“I’m not angry, but if you continue acting like this I will be in a second.” She gave him the famous Darth Raydor glare. She knew he was hunting for something, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of making her talk.

“You were fine this morning. We even talked over coffee. What happened between then and now?”

“Andy, leave it alone!”

“So there is an IT!”

She looked outside the window and watched the trees underneath them. She could feel his demanding eyes on her, but she ignored him. She was certainly not going to have that conversation there. Never, if she could help it.

Andy finally looked away with a sigh. He wasn’t going to have his answers now. Hopefully they would find a minute to talk later.

Suddenly the helicopter shook violently. Sharon tightly gripped her armrests as the turbulence continued.

“There’s some wind. Hold on tight.” The pilot told them through the earpiece.

She had completely forgotten about the earpiece and microphone. Sharon wondered if he had heard their conversations. All her worries disappeared as alarms went off all around the cockpit and Officer Pride struggled to take control of the vehicle.

“Winds up to 50 knots!” the pilot shouted. “Control, can you hear me? May Day, May Day!”

Sharon and Andy looked at each other scared. He took her hand in his and squeezed it tight.

“It’s going to be okay.” He mouthed, but those were his last words. 

“We’re going down! Brace yourself for impact!”

The helicopter was going down fast. Sharon could feel her heart starting to race in her chest. Her hand in Andy’s was sweaty and her mind went to her children thinking if she was going to see them again and what would happen to Rusty if she died today. Her body rocked in the seat, the trees were getting bigger and bigger as they went down. Suddenly Andy’s body covered hers. That was the last thing she felt before everything went dark.


	2. Chapter 2

She was alive. She could tell that from her pounding headache. She blinked her eyes, but soon closed them when the light made her flitch. After a few minutes she tried to open them again. Everything was out of focus and foggy. Her glasses had fallen during the crash. She groaned as she tried to get up.  
“Argh…” She patted her hands around and she finally located them on her chest. They were slightly bent, but still did their job. “Andy!” She called out her voice hoarse.  
She looked around. It was a mess. Cables were damaged and electricity was sparking from them, pieces of metals were hanging. Some of the trees tops had slowed their fall, but it hadn’t been enough. She tried to get up; the banging in her told her not to. She took her headset off. When she ran her fingers through her hair she felt something wet. She looked at her fingers and they were bright red. She had a gash on her forehead. She will need to take care of that, but first she had to assess the situation and that meant finding Andy.  
That hadn’t been difficult. Her lieutenant was lying unconscious on the floor. “Andy!” She shouted bending on her knees next to him. Please, let him be alive! She thought as she ran her hands up and down his face and then checked for a pulse.  
It was there!  
She took a big breath of relief and her panic level dropped a notch.  
“Andy!” She tried again. She didn’t want to shake him not knowing what was wrong with him. Moving him might be fatal. “Lieutenant! Wake up!” She tried ordering him.  
“Will you keep it down?” came the husky reply.  
“Andy!” She didn’t think it was possible but she was so happy to hear is voice.  
“What happened?” he tried sitting up but everything hurt.  
“We crashed. Are you okay?”  
“My right leg. Hurts like hell.” He said with gritted teeth.  
Sharon looked down with his body, she had been more concerned to find him alive than to check for any other injuries. She gasped when she saw what was causing his pain.  
“How bad is it?” He had heard her gasp.  
She swallowed hard. “It’s going to be okay.” She tried to reassure him.  
“You’re a terrible liar.” He tried to joke giving her a grim smile.  
Stuck through his leg was a piece of metal. It had gone through and through pinning him down to the floor. It was probably best if they stayed there and didn’t move. Rescue would be there soon and if she tried to take the metal out, he might die from blood lost.  
“How’s the pilot?”  
Sharon had completely forgotten about the young pilot. She had been so worried about Andy. She looked at the front cockpit where the pilot should have been. She got up and took a couple of steps. Officer Pride’s body was lying on top of the controls. She checked for his pulse, but she couldn’t find one. She was that his chest was covered in blood, he died on impact.  
He was so young. She thought sadly.  
With watering eyes she turned her head towards Andy and lightly shook it. She could feel the tears coming, but she couldn’t start crying now. She needed to keep it together and get them out of this situation alive. She returned to were Andy was. He was having trouble keeping his eyes opened.  
“Hey!” He goofy smiled at her.  
“Hey!” She gave him a small smile.  
“You’re bleeding.” He lifted his arm up to caress her face.  
“It’s nothing.” She waved him off. She could see that his pants were getting darker and darker and he kept losing blood from his leg. “We will stay here and wait for rescue to arrive. I’m sure they’ve already sent someone.”  
Then she had a sudden idea: her phone! She checked her jacket pockets where she usually kept her cellphone and in her right pocket she found it.  
“I’ll call someone, let them know…” but she checked her phone screen: No signal. “Damn!”  
Of course, when she looked out of the window they were flying over Los Angeles National Forest. They were probably out of cell range.  
“Wow, such language!” Andy commented sleepily.  
“Where’s your phone?” She ignored him; maybe they still had a shot.  
“Left trousers’ pocket.” He felt her putting her hands on him. “Who knew you were so frisky?”  
She took his phone out on his pocket, but it had been damaged in the accident. She sighed in frustration. She ran her hands in her hair. The blood had now dried and left her hair sticky. She was certain she looked a mess. Right now she wanted to relax in a hot bath drinking a glass of cool wine, maybe with some music in the background. She shook her fantasy away. They had more pressing matters.  
“Okay, even if we can communicate right now it doesn’t mean they won’t find us.” She didn’t know if she was trying to reassure Andy or herself.  
“We can’t stay here.” Andy suddenly told her.  
“What? Andy, I don’t think we should m…”  
“Can’t you smell gasoline? The tank probably broke in the crash. Everything could explode any second.”  
So that’s what that strong smell was! “Andy… your leg, if we move you…”  
“Sharon, go. Get what you can and walk as fa away from here as possible.” He pleaded.  
“I’m not leaving you here!”  
“Sharon…”  
“No!” She told him strongly. “I’m not leaving you. Will either stay together or leave together!”  
He shook his head frustrated. “You can be so stubborn! I would only slow you down! I will probably die anyway, there’s no need…“  
“Stop arguing and let’s actually do something.” Swallowing the lump in her throat that had formed merely at the thought of him dying.  
She looked around the wreckage looking for something that could be helpful. Someone might come in just a few minutes or maybe they were going to have to wait for hours. She saw their duffle bags on the floor. They might need those. She tried opening the door. It wasn’t easy, something was blocking it, but with a big push she managed to half open it, just enough of space for them to get down. The helicopter had gone down between two big trees. There was a small jump from where they were and the ground. She was thankful that at the last moment before leaving her office, she had switched her high heeled shoes with a pair of flat ones. For her it was going to be a semi-easy jump, but she was worried for Andy. They still had to find a way to get that metal piece out of his leg without him losing too much blood.  
She threw the bags out of the helicopter and they reached the ground with a small bang. She found a filled water bottle and a couple of energy bars. She also found a small medical kit and she carried back to Andy.  
“How are you doing?”  
“I certainly had better days but then I also had worse.” He told her remembering his dark drinking days.  
The smell of gasoline was getting stronger and they both knew that if it reached one of those hanging cables, it would all explode.  
“Okay, so I’m going to try and get this piece of metal out.” Sharon opened the medical kit to see what was inside. No local anesthetics.  
Andy knew what her look meant. “It’s going to hurt like hell, isn’t it?”  
She gave him a small smile and patted his arm. “I’m afraid so. I’ll go slowly.”  
“Just take it out. Like a bandage.”  
“I’m afraid I will nick an artery.” They didn’t say what they were both thinking. Maybe it had already hit his artery and that meant that there was nothing they could do for it now.  
She prepared what she needed from the medical kit, disinfectant and sterile dressings.  
“Okay,” she nodded gripping the metal pipe. “On three. One, two…” she lifted up.  
Andy’s shouts of pain made her cry. “Stop, stop!” He cried.  
Sharon only managed to separate the pipe from the helicopter floor. Andy took a deep breath and dried the tears from his eyes. Then he looked at her and nodded. One hand gripped a seat. His knuckles turning white from the tight hold.  
It broke her heart to cause him so much pain, but it had to be done. Sharon grabbed the pipe again and this time she continued while he shouted and coursed. Finally the metal was out, but Andy had lost consciousness. She threw it away and immediately started working on his thigh. She pressed the gauzes on the injury. There was too much blood. The gauze and her hands were stained from the crimson liquid.  
Please, stop.  
She continued pressing down hard and after some moments it slowed down. She sighed and dried the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand. She disinfected the wound and then covered with some bandages.  
“Andy! Andy wake up.” She slightly slapped him on the face.  
“Hugh…” he slowly woke up. “Oh God, it wasn’t a nightmare?”  
“I’m afraid not.” She lightly chuckled. “Can you get up?”  
They needed to leave.  
“I’ll try.” She put her arms around him and helped him get up. His clothes were drenched with sweat. Together they got rid of his suit jacket and took his tie off with was now ruined.  
“It was one of my favourite ties.” He pouted has he undid the first buttons of his shirt.  
She rolled her eyes at him. “When we make it out of here, I’ll buy you a new one.”  
“If.”  
She laid her hands on his cheeks and locked her eyes with him. “When.” She told him firmly and released him only when he nodded back.  
Sharon was the first one to get out carrying the water bottle, the energy bars and a radio. Andy was to follow. He sat on the edge of the helicopter and slid down. Since he was tall it had been relatively easy even with the injured leg.  
“Let’s get moving.” He said as he limped towards Sharon. Every time he put his leg down, a shooting pain went across his body. “I’ll get dark soon.”  
She nodded and picked up a duffle bag. There was no way that they could carry both of them, so at the end she decided to put all what they might need in one and leave the non-essential there. Unfortunately that meant also leaving behind one of her favourite pair of shoes.  
With one hand holding the bag and the other arm around Andy helping walk. It took them over twenty minutes to what they hoped was a safe distance. Ten minutes later they were startled at the ground shook and they heard a big explosion behind them. A big balk cloud was in the sky and they could say the high flames. The helicopter was gone and so was the body of Officer Pride. Sharon knew that when this was over she was going to be the one to notify his family. It was the least she could do.  
Thanks to some basic surviving skill they knew with direction to take for LA and they slowly started walking that way.  
Back at PAB, Provenza was waiting for their captain’s call giving them news. They had been gone for over an hour now and surely they must have known something by now. It was getting late and he wanted to go home. He took some convincing and ordering, but Rusty had finally agreed to sleep on the Lieutenant’s couch and the teenager boy was going to pick some burgers and wait for him at his place. That was if he could finally get out of there.  
“Hey, has anyone of you heard from Flynn or the Captain?”  
They all looked up and a shook their heads.  
“No, sir.” Detective Julio Sanchez said.  
“That’s strange.” Provenza murmured.  
“I’ll try their cell.” Lieutenant Mike Tao picked up his mobile phone and scrolled down to the Captain’s name. He waited. “It goes straight to voice mail.”  
“So does Flynn’s.” Detective Amy Sykes said from her seat.  
“Maybe they are still in the air.” Julio shrugged his shoulders.  
From the corner of his eye Provenza saw Assistant Chief walking towards them. He saw the expression on his face. He knew what it meant. It was bad news and from the pit in his stomach he had the feeling that it involved his friends.  
“Chief?”  
“Hmm…” Taylor cleared his throat. “I’ve just got a call from air command.” He looked down. “The helicopter never got to its destination. They barely received a May Day call before they lost contact. They think that the helicopter went down somewhere over LA National Forest.”  
Every one gasped and looked scared.  
“The Captain? Flynn?” Julio asked.  
“We have no news so far.”  
“What are they doing to find them, sir?” Buzz Watson from where he was sitting in front of his computer.  
“They can’t send a search them right now. They wind is too strong and it will soon be dark.”  
“So what?” Provenza got up from his chair angrily. “They are just going to give up? Let them die?” Nobody wanted to think that maybe their friends had already died from the crash.  
“They will start searching first thing tomorrow morning. But for now…” He sighed. “For now we wait. There’s nothing more we can do. If you could please inform their family and then you can go home. I’ll call you if I know something more.” He said before leaving.  
Julio shook his head incredulously. “We can’t just do nothing, sir!” He told Provenza.  
“You heard Taylor. It’s too dangerous.”  
“But sir, we could go. See if…”  
“Julio, they went down in a damn forest. It will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack!” He closed his eyes in frustration and put a hand on his forehead. “We will leave it to competent authorities. Now…” He sighed and opened his eyes. “Tao, Sykes, I want you to drive to the location of the second body. We still have a murder to investigate. It’s probably going to take you all night to…”  
“It’s okay, sir.” Sykes got up from her chair ready to leave. “We’ll take turns driving.” She looked at her colleague Tao.  
The techy lieutenant nodded. “Yeah, I’ll just call Kathy and tell her I won’t be home.” He paused. “Let’s know if you hear anything.”  
They nodded before leaving.  
“Julio, Buzz, go home. I need you rested for tomorrow. It’s going to be a long day.”  
Julio wanted to protest again, but he knew he was on a short leash since his anger issues. He took his jacket from his chair and walked away without saying anything.  
Provenza sighed. He really didn’t want to deal with the detective’s bad temper.  
“Sir, I could talk with Rusty if it helped.” The younger man volunteered. Rusty looked at him like an older brother, maybe it would help if the news came from him.  
“Thanks Buzz, but it’s something I need to do. I’ll call Nicole, Flynn’s daughter and then go to my house. Rusty is probably already there waiting. Together we will call the Captain’s other children.”  
It was going to be a long night, so much for resting.


	3. Chapter 3

Sharon and Andy had been walking for nearly two hours, stopping now and then so Andy could rest and to take a sip of water. One water bottle wasn’t going to be enough for them. Soon the little water they have will be gone and they will have to worry about dehydration on top of everything else. Sharon could see that Andy was getting worse. He was putting on a strong front for her, but the wound has started bleeding again and she was sure that it was getting infected. The sun was setting and without a proper flashlight they won’t be able to go very far in the dark.

Sharon spotted a good secluded place under a rock surrounded by some trees. She knew that Andy wasn’t going to be the first one to suggested that they should stop, so she talked first. “Why don’t we stop there for the night?” She pointed out to him.

“Okay.” He said tiredly.

They slowly limped there and Andy sat on the ground nearly collapsing.

“Are you okay?” Sharon asked worriedly, dropping the bag on the ground. She ran a hand over his forehead. He was burning up.

“I’m okay.” He moved his head away from her reach.

“No, you’re not.” She scolded him. “Lay down. Let me check your leg.” She gently pushed on his shoulder. She folded her jacket so he could lay his head there. She took the now dirty bandages off and then her hands then went to his belt.

“Hey there.” His hands suddenly stopped her and lifted his head. “What’re you doing?”

“Andy, I need to check the wound and to do that I need to get your pants off. Now it’s not the time to be embarrassed.”

He removed his hands and she continued with her task. She slowly rolled his pants out and then checked his wound. It was bad. There was both fresh and dried blood. It was getting infected. She opened the medic kit and cleaned with peroxide and put new bandages on. She found a vial with antibiotics and filled a syringe.

“Do you know what you are doing?” Andy raised his eyebrow.

“Not really, no. I’m improvising.” She said seriously, put her eyes sparkled mischievously. Without him noticing she gave him the injection.

“Here.” She got his pair of clean trousers that she had found in his night bag.

“Thanks.” He slowly got dressed and he also changed his shirt.

In the meanwhile Sharon had managed to build a fire and she already took a seat beside it trying to warm up. The night had fallen and the temperature was cooler.

“Well, look at Miss girl scout.” Andy looked impressed. “Where did you learn to do that?”

Sharon smiled and turned her head towards him with a reminiscence look. “My dad.” She told him quietly. “He used to take my sister and me camping when we were little. He taught us everything we need to know to survive in the nature.”

“What was he expecting? The end of the world?”

She chuckled. “I don’t know. I guess he thought it was something that might have been helpful in the future. I guess he was right.”

“Yeah.”

They remained in silence both mesmerized by the flames. How a day could change in just a few hours. During her lunch break she was worried about losing him to another woman and now they were sitting together, lost in a forest and they had barely survived a crash.

“What are you thinking?” He asked her.

“Rusty. And the others.”

“Provenza will take care of him, don’t’ worry.”

“Yeah I know, it’s just…”

“Yeah”

“What about you? Is anyone going to call Caroline?” It hurt to ask him this, but that’s what friends do. They ask about each other lives.

“Caroline?” He frowned. “Why would anyone call Caroline?”

“Well, aren’t you…”

“Who? Caroline and I?” He chuckled. “No. Caroline was my old partner’s wife, Bobby. He died a few years ago from cancer. Recently Caroline got remarried and she is moving to another state. She had found some old photographs of the both us and wanted to give them to me. That’s why we went out for lunch.” He paused. “Why did you think we were together?” He asked curiously after a minute.

She looked down embarrassed. “Well, you two seems comfortable around each other.”

She soon know from the look on his face when he started to connect the dots. “Is that why were angry with me earlier? You thought I was dating Caroline?”

“I wasn’t angry.”

“Sharon, I’ve been in this world long enough to recognize when a woman is angry with me.”

“Are you sure?” She smirked.  “You’re ex-wife my think otherwise.”

“Oh, I knew exactly when Meredith was pissed about something. That’s why I made sure not to return home. I don’t think for a second that I haven’t realized that you’re trying to change subject. Were you jealous?”

“Of course not. There was no reason for me to be jealous.”

He smirked. “Like I said before: you are a terrible liar.” He shifted in his seat moaning in pain.

“Is it still bad?”

“Now it’s more like a throbbing pain than a shooting one.”

“There’s only one vial of antibiotics left and the water bottle is nearly finished.”

Andy could hear the concern in her voice. “Sharon, it’s going to be okay. We’re going to make the water last as long as possible and maybe tomorrow we will find a water source. Even better, maybe tomorrow will be rescued and all this will be a distant memory. I’m sure that as soon as the first lights come, they will start searching for us.”

She smiled. “When did you become the optimistic one?”

“Since you took my role. It’s going to change every once in a while.” He smiled back. “Now, let me take a look at that nasty cut.”

“Andy, there’s no need…”

“Sharon, let me take care of you for a change.” He dampened some gauze with peroxide and carefully began cleaning her cut.

Their faces were only inches apart as Andy concentrated on what he was doing and Sharon’s eyes followed every movement until they rested on his lips.

“You always take care of me.” She whispered and Andy wondered if he had heard her right or if his mind was playing tricks on him.

They locked eyes and looked at each other for what seemed like ages. A sense of calm and electricity was flowing between them and Sharon suddenly realized what was happening.

“Hmm…” She slipped backwards putting some distance between them. “I think we should rest. We need all our energies for tomorrow.” She walked closer to the rock and laid some clothes on the ground as she curled up on them and then covered herself with her jacket.

“Goodnight!” Andy heard as she gave him her back and went to sleep. He shook his head and wondered if she was ever going to let go and  stop being afraid of what was clearly happening to them. He had told her once that he was going to wait for her. He wasn’t sure if she had got his double meaning at the time. He was still going to wait for her. She had captured his heart a long time ago without even realizing it, but he sometimes questioned how long he should way for her. Was it just going to be a lost cause from the beginning? Should he gently push her?

With those questions in his mind he slowly laid down next to her. Even without touching they could feel the heat radiating from their bodies. The temperatures were going to drop even more during the night. If it was needed, he was going to put his arms around her to keep her warm. She could be as stubborn as she wanted but that didn’t mean he was going to let her freeze to death.

But it wasn’t the cold night that woke them suddenly. It was the burning inferno and the smoke coming closer.

“Sharon!” Andy coughed. “Sharon!”

The woman was curled up against his side her head on his shoulder.

“Sharon!” He shook her.

Finally she woke up. “What’s…” but she soon felt the heat and quickly got up.

Meters from them the trees were on fire and black smoke was coming from everywhere.

“It’s the fire caused by the explosion. The wind must have changed its course.” Andy told her. “We need to get away from here, now!” He slowly got up. Sharon gathered their things and then helped him again walking.

They quickly went the fire opposite direction trying to gather some distance. They kept going, stumbling when Andy lost his weight on the leg from the pain. They tried not to look back, but it was impossible. It was like a siren calling them. Finally they reached a stream. They entered it wanting to cross it. They got wet and sometimes they fell, but they kept going. Once they had reached the other side, they could finally relax a little.

“I think we’re safe for now.” He panted trying to get his breath back.

“Yeah.” Sharon knelt by the riverside and washed the face. She then filled their water bottler and passed it to Andy.

“Thanks.” He took a long sip. “We’ll rest for fifteen minutes but then we should move again.”

She nodded and sat next to him. How much longer could they resist?

_“We are still live from LA National Forest where I big fire had spread out throughout the night. The forest guard and firemen have been working to contain the flames. Authorities have confirmed that a police helicopter crashed late yesterday afternoon and that an explosion from the vehicle tank could be the cause of this raging inferno. Rescuers are working to find possible survivors…”_

Provenza grumpily shut off the TV. He had had a difficult night. Telling Rusty about his missing mother hadn’t been easy. The boy was clearly upset. He wanted to go to the station, try to look for her. Provenza had tried to calm him down. And of course, the teenager doesn’t cry in front of people so he locked himself up in the bathroom until he was ready to come out. Together they had called Ricky Raydor, Sharon’s eldest son. He lived in Palo Alto and he was just a couple of hours of flight away. He insisted that he had to come and booked the first flight he could find. Since it was the middle of the night in New York, where Sharon’s daughter lived, Ricky told them that he was going to call his sister since it might have been better for her to hear his voice.

Ricky had called a few minutes ago saying that his plane had just landed and that he was going to meet them at the station. Emily didn’t really know what to do. Her first instinct had been to do like her brother and catch their first flight. Ricky had told her not to. They still didn’t know what they were dealing with. He was going to call her as soon as they had more news. Her second solution was to call their father which Ricky told her it was going to be a terrible idea. Their parents were divorced and Jack Raydor had no business in their mother’s life.

So Provenza and Rusty were getting ready to leave his house. The old Lieutenant had made some coffee for their wat and they were going to have some breakfast in the break room.

“Do you think they are still alive?” Rusty asked after seeing those images from the news.

Provenza sighed. “I’m not going to sugar coat it for you, Rusty. The chance to find them alive will get slimmer with every minute that passes.” He paused. “But your mother is a very stronger woman and I’m sure she will do anything to get back to you. And Andy…” He bitterly chuckled. “That old man is too stubborn to die.”

Rusty nodded but he wasn’t convinced. Sharon has been his first true family and he didn’t know what he would do without her.

When they arrived to PAB everyone was already up and running. Sykes and Tao had arrived at the sheriff office early in the morning and sent photos and documents. Julio had arrived early and he was already checking out to evidence and find a connection.  Chief Taylor had set up a small team who had the job to help rescuers to coordinate the research. They had set up a big map of the National Forest and were marking off every area that had been searched on where the fire had spread making it too dangerous to go there.

“Hey little brother!” Ricky gave a small hug to his little adopted brother. He knew the boy didn’t really like contact but so he kept it brief and simple.

“Hi! Any news?”

He shook his head. “No, I’ve just got here.”

Chief Taylor looked up from the fax he was reading and waved to Provenza. “It seems that they have found the helicopter. They have put out the fire in that area. They are still gathering all evidence, but it seems like there’s only one burned body.”

Provenza gulped.

“From where it was found, it is most likely the pilot.”

Provenza sighed in relief. “So the Captain and Flynn are still out there?”

“Maybe. There’s a lot of fire. I don’t know if they have escaped in time or if they are injured…”

“No….” He shook his head. “They are out there! I know it!”

“Let’s hope so.”

Andy was completely exhausted, he couldn’t continue any longer. Sharon was doing everything she could to keep him up straight, but they had been walking and stopping for hours and he just wanted to lay down and sleep and never wake up.

“Sharon, Sharon, stop… Just stop.” He collapsed near the base of a tree.

Sharon sighed. “Okay. We’ll rest for ten minutes and then…”

“And then you’ll go and leave me here.”

“Andy, we’ve already discussed this. I’m not leaving you behind, so…”

“I’m just slowing you down.” He interrupted her again.

She looked at him. His face was pale wet for cold sweat and big contrast from the red bandage covering his leg. She couldn’t change them again, she had used the last ones earlier and he had already had the last shot of antibiotics. They had finished their food and water and Andy was without his medicine. They both knew that he was slowly dying, but she didn’t want to face it. She swallowed hard and tried to keep her tears at bay, but it was impossible. All at ones her walls crumbles and she collapsed next to him sobbing.

Andy tried to put an arm around her and drawn her to him. “It’s okay…” he whispered, his lips to her head.

“No, it’s not. You can’t die on me, Andy. Promise me you won’t die.” She begged him.

Another helicopter flew past them. They had been hearing them all morning and they have been trying to get away from the thick vegetation so they could catch their attention.

“You need to go and find help. And you need it to do it without me.” He told her raspingly, ignoring her plead.

“I’m sorry.” She suddenly told him through her tears.

“About what?”

“That I had closed off after Stroh escaped. That I keep pushing you back. Where would we have been now if I had just let you in?”

“Don’t…” he tiredly shook his head. “Don’t think like this.”

“But it’s true, isn’t it? After going to the Nutcracker with your family we should have talked about us. About our relationship. Instead we just ignored and let it split away and then everything else happened and…” She didn’t know how to continue. Life sometimes seemed so unfair. This tragedy had to come into their lives, the idea of losing him forever, to finally make her open her eyes and gain the courage to talk to him.

“You needed time. I understand that. And I was happy to be in your life, I mean personal life, even if just as a friend.”

“But…”

“There are no regrets, Sharon.” He slowly smiled at her. “Not regarding us.” And it was true. He liked that he had been by her side, but he did have regrets about his life. Oh, so many and big regrets. First of all the many years of strained relationship that he had had with his kids. He regretted losing everything because he was so occupied finding relief inside a bottle. It had cost him everything. His wife, his kids and nearly his job. But what he regretted most was not fighting for them when he had sobered up. He had let his ex-wife win because he had felt guilty for all the pain he had caused her. And I had cost him. He didn’t get the chance to see his kids grow and built a relationship with them. Fortunately they were working on building something back. Nicole had let him completely into her life and his son was slowly getting there.

Hi eyes were getting heavy and he was slowly drifting away.

“Andy!”

He jumped and opened his eyes again. “Sharon…”

“I’m still here.” She caressed his cheek. “So, where do you want to go?”

“Hmm…”

“For our first official date.”

“I don’t know… someone told him that Serve, a new restaurant, is very romantic.”

“Okay.”

“What makes you think I was going to ask you out?”

“Call it woman’s intuition.” She smiled.

Another helicopter passed by.

“You need to go.” She was only delaying the investable.

She “I’m going to get help and I’ll be back for you. You understand me?” She told him determinedly.

“Yeah…”

“Stay awake, Lieutenant!” She ordered.

“I will…” he head fell back, but he was still breathing.

Tears still falling from her eyes, Sharon bent her head down and kissed the corner of his mouth. With one final look, she started walking away leaving torn pieces of fabric behind as a trail to get back to him, hoping with all her heart that he would be still alive.

Andy heard her go away. He really hoped that she would find someone and get back home. He was having trouble breathing and the pain in his leg was so strong that sometimes it seemed like he had completely lost all sensibility on it. Tears formed into his eyes as he realized that that was it. He always thought that his job would have killed him. A flying bullet there or maybe someone going all cray on him. If he were lucky he might have retired without accidents and die of old age in his house. He never thought that it was going to be in the middle of nowhere because of a fluke accident. At least the last person he saw was Sharon. He wanted to remember as the beautiful and joyful woman he considered his best friend and then he slowly fell in love with.

Sharon kept running down the forest. She looked up in the sky and tried to understand where the helicopters were coming and going. It at took her nearly an hours but she suddenly heard voice coming from somewhere in front of her.

“Help!” She shouted. “Anyone there?”

She was so thirsty and hungry. She had nearly consumed all her energy. She hoped that she hadn’t just imagined those voices. Then she heard a dog barking.

“Help!”

From behind some trees she saw some forest guards approaching her.

“Captain Raydor?” asked one of them.

“Yes, yes.” She started laughing and crying at the same time. She had so different emotions inside her that she could no longer contain them. “My colleague.” She told them between breaths. “He’s behind. He’s really hurt.”

“We will find him.” One of them reassured her. “You need to get take you to a hospital. There’s an ambulance a few miles from here.”

“No, I need to…” but then she collapsed from exhaustion and they barely caught before she hit the floor.

 


	4. Chapter 4

The next sound she heard was the beeping sound from the heart monitor.

“What?” she sat up suddenly and looked around panicking.

“Mum! Mum, you need to calm down.” Ricky came into her vision and passed her glasses.

“Andy? Where’s Andy?” She asked fearing the answer.

“The rescuers found him just in time. He had been in surgery for a long time. The doctors were able to safe his leg but they are still worried about the infection. Lieutenant Provenza knows more about it and I saw his daughter Nicole.”

“I need to see him.” She told him. She needed to be sure that he was alive.

“Mum, you’ve been unconscious for nearly a day now. Rusty went to pick Emily at the airport. I sent him away because he had been stuck by your side since they brought here. He needed some fresh air.”

She nodded glad that her son had everything under control.

“I’m going to call a nurse so they know you’re awake and then call Lieutenant Provenza so he can give you an update.”

She gave him a small smile. “Thank you, honey.”

A few minutes later a doctor showed up. “Mrs. Raydor, it’s good to see you awake.” She smiled at her. “A lot of people were worried for you. Especially a young blonde man.”

“Yeah, Rusty.” She still hadn’t see the latest addition to her family.

“Well,” the doctor checked her chart. “Your vitals look good. You were severely dehydrated when you got here and had nasty cut on your forehead. Our best plastic surgeon stitched that so you won’t have a very visible scar.”

“When can I get up?” She wanted to get out of that bed and go to see Andy.

“What? You want to leave us already?”

“I need to see Andy. How is he?” She asked her.

“I’m afraid I can give information only to immediate family. I want to keep you in for another two days at least. You have another IV after this one and then we’ll see if you can eat and keep your food down. But if you want to visit Lieutenant Flynn, I can have a nurse get you a wheelchair.”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

“Okay. I’ll leave you to it and I’ll come back in the evening.”

As she was waiting for the wheelchair, Emily and Rusty walked in the room.

“Mum!” Her daughter ran towards her bed and put her arms around her. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Sweetheart!” Sharon hugged her daughter tightly. “There was no need for you to come all the way here.”

“Mum! You were in a helicopter accident!” Emily sat on the edge of the bed. It was strange to see the big white bandage on her mother’s head and the IV coming out of her arm. “I would have been here yesterday, but Ricky said it was better to have more information first. But I just could stay in New York waiting.”

“I’m okay, baby.” Sharon looked at Rusty who was still standing by the door. “Rusty!” She called him putting an arm up.

Rusty stepped forward and took her hand. “I was so worried. For a moment there…” he didn’t want to get emotional.

“I know. For a moment I was scared too. But I’m here. I’m a little bruised. I’m too old to go through that ride.” She tried to keep things light. She knew that her kids had been scared. For the first time they had to face the possibility of her mortality.

“Captain Raydor? Your ride is here.” A nurse came with a wheelchair.

Ricky and Emily helped her with the hook of the IV and then to her chair.

“Andy is in intensive care on the third floor.” Ricky told her as he pushed her chair and they entered the lift. Emily and Rusty right behind them.

Nicole was the first one to see her. “Sharon!” She got up from the waiting chair and greeted her. She bent down and gave her a small hug. “It’s good to see you awake. I came to check on you earlier, but you were still resting.”

“Thank you, Nicole. How are you holding up?” She laid a hand on the young woman’s arm.

“It’s unnerving. All this waiting. Dad is still not out of the woods. They told me we went to cardiac arrest during surgery. Doctors tell me to be hopeful, but still…”

Ricky hadn’t mentioned about the cardiac arrest. She knew that his body had suffered a great stress, but that didn’t sound good.

“I’m sure it will be okay. Your father is a strong man.”

“And a stubborn one.” Provenza added.

Sharon smiled at him. “Hello Lieutenant.”

“It’s good to see you, Captain.”

“Really?” She acted surprise. A few years back, when she was out in charge of Major Crimes, Lieutenant Provenza didn’t want her there. Now he was one of her best collaborators.

“Yeah. To do much work to do in your absence. Plus Julio and Buzz were moping.”

She chuckled. “Is everything okay at work?”

“Yeah. Sykes and Tao are working together with the local authorities. It seems that out two murders are connected after all. They will gather all the evidence and we’ll have out lab analyze them. But you don’t have to worry with that. Taylor has given us some extra men from Robbery Homicide. We will catch this guy and I will leave all the paperwork for when you come back.” He told her grinning.

She nodded. “Have you seen Andy?”

“Just from the glass window. They won’t let you in without a mask and scrubs. It looks bad seeing him attached to all those machines, but I’m sure  that in a couple of days he will be back to being a pain in the ass.”

She knew he was trying to reassure the both of them.

“Ricky,” she laid a hand on top of her son’s. “Could you please take me there?”

“Sure.”

He went down a corridor and then stopped in front of the ICU with Andy. He left his mother alone telling her to just send a nurse to get him when she was ready to leave. He knew that something like they had gone through could connect you for life. Also Rusty  and Nicole told them about their non-dates. He guessed that there was more between his mother and the tall lieutenant than just friendship.

She put a hand on the glass and the other one covered the sob escaping from her mouth. He looked so frail laying on the sterile white sheets of the hospital bed. A ventilator was pumping air in his lungs and a monitor was keeping notes on his heart rate and blood pressure. His right leg was elevated and she could see that it was heavily bandaged.

“You come back to me, Andrew Flynn.” She whispered, tears drops falling from her eyes.

Two days later Sharon was released from the hospital. And even though she had wanted to stay there until Andy woke up, she went home because her kids had insisted. Nicole had been right: the waiting was unnerving. She always considered herself a patient woman, but she needed to see his adorable chocolate brown eyes and to hear his sexy voice again or maybe get lost in his smile.  She had convinced Emily to go back to New York. Her daughter couldn’t afford to miss too many days at work, her career as a ballerina was on the line. Ricky took a week off from his job, she still couldn't really understand what he did, but he was going to help her to get everything on track again and that's what she needed. To go back to normality. Sharon had two weeks of medical leave. She knew that she also had to be cleared be the department psychologist before she could work full time. But for now she was going to spend most of her time sitting by Andy’s bed. The doctors had taken him off the ventilator and he was breathing on his own. But that stubborn man still hadn’t woken up.

That morning they had moving him to a regular room, so it made visiting a lot more easier. Her team had solved the case and they usually took turns to come and take her food or to simply give her a break. Ricky was looking after Rusty, even though, like the young teenager said, he didn’t need a babysitter. But Ricky called him brotherly boding time.

 Sharon was sitting on an armchair. She was reading her favourite book again. Sometimes she would read her favourite parts out loud hoping that the sound of her voice would bring him back to her.

She was caressing his hand when suddenly she felt it squirm. Surprised she put the book down and leaned towards the bed.

“Andy?”

More movement.

“Andy? Open your eyes, honey.” She whispered in his ear.

Andy slowly moved his head and then he open one eye.

“Hey!” She gave him a warm smile.

“Hi.” He said. His throat dry. She put a glass of water on his lips and he took a small sip. In the meanwhile Sharon pressed the call button.

“Where…”

“Can you remember what happen?” The doctors had been worried for possible brain damage.

“Accident.” He said. “Helicopter.”

“Yes. We were in a crash and then we running in the forest.”

Slowly his last memories were coming back to him. He didn’t expect to see her again. He really thought he was going to die out there.

The nurse walked in and saw that he was awake. She sent someone to call the doctor while she checked his vitals.

“Welcome back, Mr. Flynn. How are you feeling?”

“My head is killing me, but maybe my leg is worse.” His voice was still hoarse.

“Your attending will soon be here to check you out.”

Moments later his doctor walked in followed by a couple of residents. Sharon stayed for all the examination. The verdict was that Andy had to stay in the hospital for at least another week and start as soon as possible physiotherapy for his leg. It was going to be a long recovery, his body has suffered so much stress. Sharon stepped outside for a couple of minutes so she could call Nicole and all the others to let them know the great news.

When they were finally alone again the two could talk about how they had left things in the woods.

“I was really scared. I thought you had died.” She confessed. She ran her hand up and down his arm.

“So did I.” He lightly chuckled. “I had found peace. I was going to leave this world in a better state of mind.”

“Well, I’m glad that it wasn’t your time yet.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Plus, you still owe me a dinner.”

“Really?” He raised his eyebrow playfully.

“Hum, Hum. Don’t think for one minute that I forgot about it.”

“I would never. You might have to wait a bit. I’m not really fit for dating anytime soon.”

“I will be here waiting for you. As long as you need me to.” She told him softly and kissed the corner of his mouth.  


End file.
